Daily Brief Utilities: Jersey Electricity PLC and more

Jersey Electricity (JEL) is bringing forward capital spending to boost resilience and improve the security of its supply. Our analysis indicates that the £180m capex plan over the next five years, which includes £120m for what is referred to as ‘The Big Upgrade’, is comfortably affordable given the current health of JEL’s balance sheet (gearing peaks at less than 30% in 2029) and should not require above-inflation retail price increases beyond 2025. JEL beat our expectations for FY24 earnings, and looks well hedged to price exposures for the next two years.